After several months of tackling other household projects and some basement finishing, I’ve finally been able to start construction of the layout!
One of the first things I did was to start preliminary design of a suspended loop for the upper level to ascend into staging. Why a loop vs a helix? The upper benchwork height will be 61” at the “northern” end and I cannot place overhead staging higher than 72”due to ductwork. If I partially hide a track on the upper level I can build staging in a separate room without overhead obstacles and the upper level drops to 57”, maximizing scenic space. This may potentially add extra run to the layout and potentially be able to model a little bit more of the KY&N north of Grantsville. I started by establishing the center point and then protracting the circle so the loop would provide a track radius of 36”. Later, I used a plumb bob to mark reference points on the floor joints above.
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| Drawing outer limits of the lower level helix and upper level loop. |
I reused old sections of 3/4” plywood cut into curved panels and fastened them to the floor joists so that the all thread suspending the upper level loop has a firm structure to be bolted to.
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| Plywood support for suspending the upper benchwork and loop. |
Finally, I started building the first level benchwork as well as lower staging access and staging yard.
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| Lower level benchwork in progress. |
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| Access to staging narrow shelf construction. |
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| Entrance to lower level staging. |
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| Lower level staging benchwork progress. |
